Obama to Permit Oil Drilling Off Virginia

[cornermouse]

I wake up this morning and this is what I see? On top of trying to dismantle the public education system, escalation in Afghanistan, and mandatory insurance without even the fig leaf of the public option?

:grr:

Add: I'm so mad I forgot the link. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/03/31/national/main6349143.shtml?tag=stack

[Kdillard]

1. Talk about not telling the whole story. He is also cancelling the drilling leases for

Alaska and perhaps getting enough support so that the Climate change bill can go through.

[cornermouse]

2. Is that supposed to make opening up new drilling

sites that the republicans couldn't touch better? I don't think so. I'm going to also point out that new offshore drilling leases is definitely NOT climate change friendly. That makes it little more than lip service to climate change policy and more like climate change unfriendly where the rubber hits the road.

[Kdillard]

4. If the people of Virginia don't want it done they can make it clear

By doing something to stop it. The article is clear and Obama has been clear about his plans. He has done some things I like on the environment and other things I haven't liked. I am not going to only look at one side and say he is evil or that he is some great champion of the environment.

[cornermouse]

5. Most people know that federal law trumps state law

every single time.

[PVnRT]

37. The people of Virginia have no control of that part of the ocean

[pscot]

48. Since no oil has been found

off Virginia or anywhere else along the east coast, this outrage seems a bit premature.

[jberryhill]

52. Ding Ding Ding.... we have a winner!

The outrage centers on a fundamental misunderstanding of what is being suggested here.

[polichick]

13. He'll get ZERO support for this, as usual. nt

[GoCubsGo]

35. I think that is why he opened up the areas he did.

How many of the "Drill, baby, drill" types live in VA, NC, SC, FL, and GA? Lots. And, that's where most of the new leases opened up. How many of them want their VERY expensive beachfront property values to plummet because they would be overlooking oil rigs? Or, lose their tourism incomes because people no longer want to vacation in Myrtle Beach or on the Outer Banks because of the oil slicks? The President is saying, "You want "Drill, baby, drill"? Fine! We will drill in YOUR backyards. Still want to "Drill, baby, drill" now?" He knows damn well these Palin-parrots are a bunch of NIMBYs, who are all for drilling--until it hurts their pocketbooks. Time for them to put up or shut up.

[Name removed]

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[jefferson_dem]

3. Sorry, it's tough to take any of your outrage seriously...

when you proclaim Obama is "trying to dismantle the public education system."

That being said, unless this drilling expedition is part of a comprehensive energy plan in the works, I'm not thrilled with it either.

[cornermouse]

6. Tell it to the teachers

he isn't dismantling the public education system.

Once he opens "the box" the republicans are going to do everything they can to keep it open while reopening anything he shuts down. Meanwhile the green options seem to have disappeared entirely.

[JTFrog]

8. Even harder when

you see him in his echo chamber spouting off about how Obama "has shown little or no class right from the start". :wtf:

Seriously, what would make someone say something like that? Especially after eight years of complete dumbfuckery. Well I have a few guesses, but none that won't get me banned by voicing them.

:shrug:

[ShortnFiery]

7. This is very sad. I'm beyond disappointed ...

straight on to depressed. :(

Come On, OIL DRILLING?!? ... Not off the coast of our Sweet Virginia! :cry:

[flpoljunkie]

9. More on this from NYT's article...

In many of the newly opened areas, drilling would begin only after the completion of geologic studies, environmental impact statements, court challenges and public lease sales. Much of the oil and gas may not be recoverable at current prices and may be prohibitively expensive even if oil prices spike as they did in the summer of 2008.

At the Wednesday event, Mr. Obama is also expected to announce two other initiatives to reduce oil imports, an agreement between the Pentagon and the Agriculture Department to use more biofuels in military vehicles and the purchase of thousands of hybrid vehicles for the federal motor pool.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/science/earth/31energy.html?hp

[cornermouse]

10. (sigh)

"Once he opens "the box" the republicans are going to do everything they can to keep it open while reopening anything he shuts down. Meanwhile the green options seem to have disappeared entirely."

Biofuels? Caps? They did both of those here. Want to know about the biofuels? Seems they use huge amounts of water to make it. And then there's the newspaper article about a little problem heavy corrosion in motors where predominant biofuels were used. ...What was the purchase price of your car and how much do you feel you can afford to spend on a vehicle that's going to need a new motor a few years down the road?

Caps? We now have smog and asthma alerts. We didn't used to have them. I'd say the caps worked real well, wouldn't you?

[flpoljunkie]

31. Share your concern about biofuels--particularly ethanol, a seemingly intractable political problem

[Mass]

11. Sadly, pragmatism is leading to all sorts of concessions, whether good or bad.

However, it may be that this is given only because they know exploitation will not happen because extracting this oil is too expensive.

This said, even if this is the case, this is a blow against a meaningful global warming bill, given that oil is PART OF THE PROBLEM, not THE SOLUTION.

Then we will wonder why people dont think global warming is real. It was bad enough when the right and the media were pushing it, but we have the WH and the main Senate negotiators pushing the idea that more drilling is part of the solution. Talk about confusing the message.

[polichick]

14. It really does confuse the message - as this president always does...

Besides that, there is no U.S. oil market - all oil goes on the world market, so whatever they get (and it won't be nearly enough to put our shores at risk) will probably be used in China. Some extra profits for big oil, nothing for us except risk.

[polichick]

12. Once again, caving to corporate interests before he begins to negotiate...

It's not just Virginia; it's the whole East Coast and more in the Gulf of Mexico.

Obama needs to be primaried from the left - he might as well be a Republican. We get a watered-down stimulus bill (most of the green taken out); war escalation, Romneycare and now this.

[rg123]

22. +1

[NatBurner]

15. i'm deeply and staunchly indifferent to this

whatever keeps my gas prices down

my only regret is it'll give that bobble-head dingbat wasilla hillbilly know-nothing quitter something to flap her disgusting over-sized jawbone about

[polichick]

16. It has nothing to do with keeping gas prices down...

There is no U.S. oil market, only a world market - whatever they get will more than likely be used in China, according to my friend in the oil business. There isn't enough to cause a drop in prices, so industries and wildlife that depend on clean shores are put at risk for nothing.

[NatBurner]

20. well... in that case?

i'm deeply and staunchly indifferent to this

etc etc...

dictated but not read,
NB

[polichick]

32. You sound as ignorant as the teabaggers. nt

[NatBurner]

39. k

[Sheepshank]

30. Yeah, what you said!!! n/t

[KansasVoter]

17. Unbelievable........another disappointment. What is he thinking???

[alcibiades_mystery]

18. You were mad before

Like, way before.

[paulk]

23. and that is relevant how?

why don't you address the topic of this thread?

[alcibiades_mystery]

27. Meh

Go spam the board with cop propaganda.

[paulk]

47. you've got the wrong poster, kiddo

and since YOUR post is nothing but spamming, even if you had the right poster it would still be nonsense

[Name removed]

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[Cha]

45. Yeah, like forever and not fooling anyone.

[dionysus]

19. then you better stop consuming all forms of energy... right fucking now!

:rofl:

[Name removed]

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[dionysus]

26. i'm all for renewable energy, but until we can put such an infastructure in place,

demand will still increase exponentially, and no one wants to cut back on comsumption. in the mean time , the energy has to come from somewhere.

[Jennicut]

29. Yes, and I posted about that below.

Not many people are willing to stop their consumption.

[Name removed]

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[Cleobulus]

44. And there's not enough(potential) oil off our coasts to make a difference.

In other words, we won't benefit from this at all.

[Robb]

21. The announcement's at noon. It's Wednesday.

Two things: we don't know the whole deal yet. And if it really sucked, we'd hear about it on Friday.

[ChiciB1]

24. WELL, I LIVE In Florida & I've Already Seen Our Beaches Diminish

and become dirtier as time goes by!! Drilling off-shore IS NOT something I can support!

It angers me GREATLY!!!

:grr: :nuke:

[Jennicut]

28. Two interesting things about offshore drilling:

Developing alternative future energy sources is seen as crucial for the US economy, by both Democrats and Republicans. This is reflected in both statements by the Obama administration and the 2006 Addicted to oil speech by George W Bush. However, these massive investments will be funded by the present economy, which ties the alternative energy debate into debates on how to manage the economy, especially the mitigation of peak oil. In light of this, some may defend both new oil fields in the gulf of mexico and the extraction of unconventional oil such as oil sands in Canada on the grounds that it mitigates peak oil and keeps the economy afloat until it transitions to other energy sources. Others call for shifting existing energy subsidies away from oil toward renewable. The offshore drilling is only a small part of this larger debate.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_offshore_drilling_debate

Also:
Although offshore drilling has long been banned in US federal waters off the state of Florida, nearby neighbor Cuba has been preparing to explore its own offshore area near Florida. The subject became an issue in the 2008 presidential race, with assertions and denials of the reality of Cuban offshore drilling. On 31 October 2008, Brazilian and Cuban presidents Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Raul Castro attended a ceremony at which the Brazilian oil company Petrobras agreed to drill for oil in Cuban offshore waters near Florida.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_offshore_drilling_debate

So is allowing some limited offshore drilling okay as a needed transition into alternative energy sources? The truth is, no one here wants to give up their current lifestyles. Small things will not stop us from continued use of oil to make our everyday lives run as we are used to. And alternative energy sources are not ready to take over, far far from it. Of course, would limited offshore drilling result in a drop in the bucket and make no difference? We must debate that. Also, is there such a thing as peak oil? And what price do we pay for energy independence? Why are we in Iraq and Afghanistan anyway?
Cuba is starting offshore drilling as well. Many countries want to be energy independent and I understand the need but what is the price to pay environmentally for energy independence?
These kinds of questions keep me up at night and I have no easy answers for them. I would rather debate these kind of questions that what Obama said when.

[jberryhill]

33. "So is allowing some limited offshore drilling okay"

That's not even what's on the table here.

Permitting exploration is not the same as permitting drilling. Drilling, if any, would be a long way off.

I'm not opposed to knowing what is there, because it may well turn out to be not much anyway.

[Jennicut]

46. Good point. It would shut some people up who want the drilling is there is not

much there to begin with.

[amborin]

34. what happened to the big green jobs initiative? and the green economy?

[polichick]

36. The president sold-out to Republican bullies the day he allowed the stimulus to be gutted...

This is just the latest payoff to corporate interests as he begs for cooperation. SAD.

[fedupinBushcountry]

41. Webb and Warner

are both for it, and I know other Dems are too. Sigh!!!

[polichick]

42. Webb and Warner, the Conservadems. nt

[amborin]

51. yes, it's very sad; the stimulus was the 1st major sell-out and it's been one after another ever

[zulchzulu]

54. Whoops... did we wake you up?

Actually, if you REALLY followed the story, Obama made clear that green jobs are part of the upcoming energy legislation.

But if someone with a tenth of he story can get riled up over nothing, what the heck...

[uponit7771]

43. *****SPECULATORS ARE RAISING PER BARROL OIL PRICES AGAIN******

Yes, these people are sons of Satan and smell of solphur but there's little Obama can do right now other than protect himself and dems from the after summer 3-4 dollar gas prices

[ncteechur]

50. Don't get mad, get glad.

Let's see...

He said he would support drilling if part of a larger comprehensive strategy.

He always said he would send more troops to Afghanistan.

He get HCR through using the best means available. We never had 60 votes in the senate and a PO would have been cut off at the knees.

And you are way off base on the education system... read the reauthorization blueprint.

[Moochy]

53. what part does a week of national oil consumption play?

It's a pure political bargaining chip.

[ncteechur]

55. that is why it is called politics and it is how things get done.